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For many years now, controversy
has raged over whether fluoride should be added to drinking
water. As early as 1961, as recorded in the
Congressional Record, fluoride was exposed as a lethal poison
in our nation's water supply. Proponents say that
fluoride occurs naturally and helps develop and maintain
strong bones and teeth. Opponents to fluoridation
contend that when fluoridated water is consumed regularly,
toxic levels of fluorine, the poisonous substance from which
fluoride is derived, build up in the body, causing irreparable
harm to the immune system. The Delaney Congressional
Investigation Committee, the government body charged with
monitoring additives and other substances in the food supply,
has stated that "fluoridation is mass medication
without parallel in the history of medicine."
Meanwhile, no convincing
scientific proof has ever been generated that fluoridated
water makes for stronger bones and teeth. It is known,
however, that chronic fluoride use results in numerous health
problems, including osteoporosis and osteomalacia, and also
damages teeth and leaves them mottled. The salts used to
flouridate our nation's water supply, sodium fluoride and
fluorosalicic acid, are industrial byproducts that are never
found in nature. They are also notoriously toxic
compounds, so much so that they are used in rat poison and
insecticides. The naturally occurring form of fluoride,
calcium fluoride, is not toxic - but this form of fluoride is
not used to fluoridate water.
Today, more than half the
cities in the United States fluoridate their water
supplies. In many states, it is required. Although
many ailments and disorders - including Down syndrome, mottled
teeth, and cancer - have been linked to fluoridated water,
fluoridation has become the standard rather than the
exception.
The fluoride added to tap
water can be a problem. Individuals have different
levels of tolerance for toxins such as fluoride. In
addition, many water sources have levels of fluoride higher
than one part per million, the level generally recognized as
safe and originally set as the acceptable limit by the
EPA. After the EPA learned that water in many towns had
natural fluoride levels much higher than this, the permissible
fluoride limit was raised - quadrupled, in fact - to four
parts per million. And this is in addition to fluoride
encountered from other sources. Fluoride is the
thirteenth most widely distributed element on earth, so it can
turn up just about anywhere - in vegetables and meats, for
example. Since so many local water supplies are
fluoridated, there is a good chance that virtually any
packaged food product made with water, such as soft drinks and
reconstituted juices, contains fluoride. Additional
fluorides are widely used in toothpaste products, so it is
easy to see how many Americans may be ingesting excessive
amounts of this potentially toxic substance.
Source: Prescription
for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch, CNC and
James F. Balch, M.D.
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